11 Walk-Off Thoughts on the Indians' 'playoff-esque' loss and the first of many heavyweight bouts in the second half

Ryan Lewis Beacon Journal

Saturday

Jul 13, 2019 at 8:01 AMJul 13, 2019 at 8:01 AM

Here are 11 Walk-Off Thoughts after the Indians' 5-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins Friday night.

1. The chase is on, and Round 1 of 13 has gone to the Twins. The Indians entered this series, one that kicks off the second half of the season and sets up the race to catch the division-leading Twins, focused on the age-old mantras of taking it one game at a time and each game only counts as one. Both ideas have validity, though it's also clear Friday night's game between the two heavyweights in the division carried with it a feel more-so reserved for October 12 than July 12.

2. The Indians entered the All-Star break riding a wave of momentum. Winners of six in a row with a 21-8 record since June 4, they had carved away more than half of the Twins' largest divisional lead (11.5 games to 5.5) in a matter of weeks and did it as their depleted starting rotation continued to progress in their collective rehabs (Corey Kluber had a "good checkup" on Thursday and could be throwing bullpen sessions in a few weeks).

3. That momentum was carried for six innings on Friday night. A Carlos Santana home run and a two-out single by Roberto Perez gave them a 3-1 lead. Mike Clevinger and Adam Cimber escaped jams in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively, to preserve the two-run lead. Both walked off the mound in an animated fashion, feeding off the moment.

4. The Indians had been landing punches all night. They were dancing around the ring, dodging everything the Twins threw at them aside from a big hook landed by Nelson Cruz in the first inning on his solo home run off Mike Clevinger. In the seventh, the Indians slipped for just a moment, and the Twins pummeled them. Max Kepler beat Francisco Lindor's throw to first base by a hair, and a 3-1 lead was turned into a 4-3 deficit in seemingly a matter of seconds. Instead of a third escaped scoring threat in a row and a highlight reel play by Lindor, the Twins cut the deficit to 3-2 and then took the lead on Jorge Polanco's two-run double to center. The Indians lowered their gloves for just a second, and the Twins landed a smooth combination for the knockout.

5. The Indians came away with a disappointing loss that dropped them back to 6.5 games behind the Twins. And, now, the Indians' focus turns to winning the two rematches this weekend and then the very winnable schedule they have in the four series after that (Detroit, Kansas City twice and Toronto) that will lead up to the trade deadline.

6. “This felt very playoff-esque," Clevinger said. "This obviously is going to have more emphasis because they're [in] a division, especially the guys in front of us in the division, but this is the kind of importance I want us to take on every single game. Every single game is going to be just as meaningful. If we drop, knock on wood, we drop some to the Twins, then we go back on a roll, ya know, 21-8, it’s going to be hard for them to keep that same pace. So as long as we put the same emphasis on every time we go on the field, we’re gonna have good results.”

7. "We had that game," said Oscar Mercado. "We kind of sat back on our heels towards the last third of the game and it cost us. I think we just got to play one through nine full-go and we’ll be OK. We won six in a row. It’s gonna happen. We still got a chance to win this series. It’s not the end of it all. We’re a good team, and we know that. We’ll be OK.”

Mercado didn't get a great jump on the ball to center. It would have been a tremendous play had he caught it, but with his speed, it wasn't out of the question, either. He was turned around a bit, and as soon as that happened, there was no way that ball wasn't landing for the go-ahead double.

8. "In that situation, you gotta almost — it's instinct," Mercado said. "You're either turning the right way or you're not. And I didn't turn the right way. I had to be perfect, and I wasn't. That's the unfortunate situation. ... It's baseball. You just gotta — you can't dwell on the past or the present is going to eat you alive."

9. With a bigger picture in mind, it was a positive outing for Clevinger. He gave up a solo homer to Cruz in the first but put together a strong outing, giving up four hits and only that run with six strikeouts in five innings. He ended up throwing 92 pitches, which was right around where the Indians wanted to keep him, and said he felt strong at the end of the night.

10. “Yeah, that last pitch that was a strike was 97," Clevinger said. "So, no, I was still feeling good. Obviously it’s the first game back after nine days in between starts. I’ve already kinda been going nine days-plus between each start. It made sense. Obviously I didn’t want to come out, I wasn’t super stoked about coming out, but I get the game.”

11. “I thought he was pretty good," added Francona. "I thought when he had to reach back in that one inning he really did. The plan was to try and keep him around 90, so we were going to let him go out until there was a baserunner and build up back up to ... where we can take the seat belts off of him.”

Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at www.ohio.com/indians. Follow him on Twitter at @ByRyanLewis.

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